FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) -- City councilors approved a bid to start a project to expand North Rupple Road to Mount Comfort Road during a regularly schedule meeting Tuesday (Dec. 19).
In a unanimous vote, all eight alderman approved a contract with Crossland Heavy Contractors, Inc. of Columbus, Kansas for $5,574,726.35 to fund construction. Another $418,104 was approved as a project contingency.
The amount will be split between both federal and city monies, with the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program-Attributable (STBGP-A) funding 80% of the contract amount. Fayetteville's share will total about 25% of the contract cost after the contingency fund.
The new portion of Rupple Road will be built between West Starry Night View and West Mount Comfort Road, cutting through what's now a field to continue the project.
A stoplight intersection will be built west of the current three-way intersection to align with another section of Rupple Road that runs by Holt Middle School.
Will Dockery lives in the area and said he hoped the addition of a light will increase safety and help with congestion during peak drive times.
"More and more people back up while they're waiting for one person to turn left," Dockery said. "With an actual light there, people would be able to turn, and you can go forward as well."
The estimated start date comes about a year after the project was supposed to initially get underway. An archaeological survey, required when using federal funds, unearth historic artifacts, halting the project. A team of Archaeologists is now in its third phase of digging up, studying and persevering the area.
"It's basically just historical evidence of people who lived there in the past, or who had passed through the area," said Chris Brown, city engineer.
The scientists are cataloging items to determine the history of the area and should finish their dig by late January 2018.
Brown said work will begin on the road expansion project thereafter.
The contractor will be given 18-months to build the road, with an estimated completion in mid-2019.
"Don't expect any additional delays," Brown said. "We're now in the stage of moving forward and getting ready for construction."